Horace j



Patented Mar. l4, |899.

' H. J. SECOR.

BUBIAL CASKET.

(Application filed Sept. 30, 1898.)

2 Sheets-$heat I.

(No Model.)

:INVENTOR.

No. 620,980. Patented Mar. l4, I899.

H. J. SECUB.

BUBIAL OASKET.

(Application mad Sept. 30, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Shoet 2.

FIG. 6. ,F/5 7 I] V 12 7 E 1 a; Z/// 3* -(f MW Z5 Z6 ,2

WITNE55E5. INVENTOR,

fmw W 'NITED STATES PATENT Omen HORACE J. SEOOR, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES A.

TURNEY, OF SAME PLACE.

BURlAL-CASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. e2o,es0,ead use. 14, 1899.

Application filed Se tember 30,1898. SerialNo. 692,271. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, HORACE J. SEooR, acitizen of the United States, residing at Toledo,

'Lucas county, Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Burial-Oaskets, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to a burial-casket having a separable top and bottom; and its object is to provide means for automatically, hermetically, and'permanently sealing the casket.

Heretofore burial-caskets designed to be hermetically and automatically sealed have proved unsatisfactory owing to the great length and surface of the joints to be closed. It is found that such joints can be made airtight and water-tight only by the use of manually-operated clamping devices.

A further object of my invention is to overcome the objections here pointed out, and more particularlyto provide a casket in which the vertical portion, the bottom, and lid may be hermetically sealed together manually and in, which the final hermetic sealing is eifected by means of a panel in the lid of the casket adapted to be automatically and inaccessibly locked and sealed in place.

I obtain these objects by means of the devices and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, made part hereof, in which-'- Figure 1 is an end view of my casket closed; Fig. 2, a central Vertical cross-section of the same; Fig. 8, a top plan view of the bottom plate of the lid-panel hereinafter referred to; Fig. 4., a central vertical longitudinal sectional elevation of the lower part of the casket, showing the elevating-board in operative position; Fig. 5, a top plan view of one end of the casket with the lid removed, it being understood that both ends are substantially alike; Fig. 6, an enlarged vertical sectional elevation of the angle formed by the meeting bottom and side or end of the casket, taken centrally of either of the hinges 7 8, hereinafter referred to; and Fig. 7, a front elevation-of the same.

Like reference-numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the sides and ends of the casket, consisting in the example shown of a singlestrip of sheet metal shaped overa former and having its meeting ends brazed at one of the corners.

2 is the bottom of the casket, preferably having at its. margins a continuous upturned flange 3, into which the bottom of piece 1 exactly fits.

The top of the casket consists of three parts viz the marginal part 4, which rests upon and engages the upper margin of the piece 1, the cove-piece 5, having its outer margin secured to the inner margin of piece 1 and being provided with an inwardly-projecting horizontal flange 5, and the panel 6, resting removably upon the flange 5 and being adapted to be locked thereto. A se ries of hinges 'is secured in the inner angle of the parts 1 and 2, the hinge-leaves 7 being secured to the bottom of the casket, the leaves 8 being free to swing against and parallel with the inner side of part 1. There is a hole 8' through each of the leaves 8, adapted when the leaf is pressed against the side of the casket to receive the head of the axially-revoluble bolt 9, the inner end of which is screwed or otherwise revolubly secured in the Wall of part 1. The head of the bolt 9 at its outer end is angular and adapted to receive a proper Wrench, as at 10. That part of the head of the bolt which lies in the same plane as the hinge leaf 8 when pressed against the inner side of the casket is formed as a cam, as at 11, which cam with the turning of the bolt engages theupper side of the hole 8 in the leaf 8. A lip or flange 12 at the side of the cam prevents the hinge-leaf and the bolt from becoming disengaged when the cam is turned into operative relation with the hole 8.

The lid may be secured to the body of the casket in the same manner that the body portion is secured to the bottom, as just described, by means of a seriesof hinges, having leaves fixed to one part and leaves adapt- 5 ed to engage cam-bolts on the other part, as at 13, Fig. 2, or as illustrated by inverting Figs. 6 and 7. The under side of the marginal piece 4 of the lid is slotted, as at 14, to receive the upper edge of the part 1. In this fee slot and in a groove 15 in the bottom of piece 2, directly beneath the lower edge of the part 1, is placed suitable packing 16. The meeting faces of the panel 6 and the flange 5 are oppositely grooved, and in these opposed grooves is also a suitable packing 17. The panel 6 is arched upwardly from its side and end margins. To the bottom side of the panel is secured a flat plate 17. In'the space between the parts 6 and 17 is disposed the automatic locking mechanism now to be de scribed.

18 18 are two rods running lengthwise of the plate 17 and terminating in bolts 19. These rods are movable longitudinally in guides 20 and are held normally asunder at their adjacent ends by a stout spiral spring 21.

22 22 are bolts disposed at a right angle to the rods 18 and slidingin guides 23. Togglepieces 24:, pivoted to the bolts 22 and to the rods 18, serve to transmit motion from the rods to these bolts. Bolts 22 and their guides and connections with the rods 18 may be provided at both sides of plate 18; but in practice fixed laterally-projecting lugs 24 at one side of the plate and movable bolts at the other side will be found sufficient. The bolts 19 22 at their outer extremities are beveled downwardly and baekwardly, as at 5, as shown in Fig. 2. Set-serews in the guides 20 for the rods 18, as at 19, hold the spring 21 compressed and the several bolts retracted until by the removal of the set-screws these parts are released.

Pivoted to the bottom of the casket, as at 25, (see Fig. 4,) is a board 26, which may either lie flat upon the bottom or be swung upwardly. On the under side of the board, at its end opposite the pivot or hinge, are notches 27 to receive the upper endof a prop or brace 28, either pivoted on the bottom of the casket or separate therefrom, which prop or brace holds the board 26 at any desired adjustment.

The operation of my device is as follows: Until the lid is to be finally closed the rods and bolts 18 19 22 are held retracted by setscrews 19. The bottom 2 is entirely separated from the body of the casket by turning the cam-bolts 9 out of engagement with the holes 8 and swingingthe hinge-leaves 8 back upon the bottom and beneath the loose drapery or covering. (Not shown in the drawings.) The bottom may now be used as a cooling-board, thus avoiding the very objectionable practice of the indiscriminate use of the common cooling-board. When the part 2 is thus employed, the elevating-board 26 at the head of the casket may be adjusted as desired, and when raised may be held in place by the brace or prop 28. The body of the casket is slipped into place within the upturned flange 3, the hinge-leaves 8 are swung up against the inner sides and ends of the casket, and the cam-bolts 9 are given aquarter-turn with a suitable wrench. The cams 'be understood without further description.

The panel 6 is the last part to be put into place. To accomplish this, the set screws 19 are removed, which permits the spring 21 to project the bolts 19 22. The lugs 24; are slipped under the margin of the flange 5 by tilting the panel and moving it sidewise. The panel is now pressed down into horizontal position, the beveled ends of the bolts being forced back by their contact with the flange 5 until the margin of the flange is cleared, when the bolts by the pressure of the spring 21 are shot outwardly under the flange 5, thus permanently securing the panel in place and locking the casket so securely that to open it will require its destruction. The downward pressure upon the panel 6 necessary to bring it into locked position compresses the packing 17, thus forming a tight joint between the panel and the flange 5. It will be seen that the length of the joint between the lid and the panel is so small that it becomes entirely feasible by means of the automatic locking mechanism to form an air-tight and water-tight joint between the two parts.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a burial-casket, a body portion, aremovable lid having an opening therethrough, means for manually fastening and clamping the lid to the body portion, said means when the lid is in place being accessible only through said opening in the lid, a panel to close said opening, and means for automatically locking the panel to the lid, said automatic locking mechanism being inaccessible when locked in place upon the closed casket.

2. A burial-casket comprising a body portion, a removable bottom, a removable lid having an opening therethrough, normally in= accessible means within the casket for fastening and clamping said bottom and lid to said body portion, said lid fastening, when the lid and bottom are in place, being acccessible only through said opening, a panel to close said opening, means for automatically locking the panel to the lid, said automatic locking mechanism being inaccessible when locked in place upon the closed casket.

3. In aburial-casket, a screw-bolt entering the inner vertical wall thereof, an angular head upon said bolt, a flange on said bolt, a cam on said bolt, and a leaf pivotally secured to a horizontal portion of said casket and adapted to engage said cam and flange, in

combination With a packing between said wall outer ends of said bolts in locked position, and

and said horizontal portion. beveled surfaces upon said bolts adapted to 10 4. In a burial-casket, a top, a pair of rods slide upon said flange.- slidably secured len thwise thereof a compression-springinterposed between said rods, HORACE E boltsat the outer ends of said rods, laterally- In presence of disposed bolts, connections between said lat- M. D. MERRIOK,

ter bolts and said rods, a flange to engage the L. E. BROWN 

